Amazon’s Kindle Paperwhite in Japan will be cheaper than in the US

Amazon’s introduction of their first Japanese language e-reader, the Kindle Paperwhite, seems like it arrives late to the party. e-Readers are not exactly a new thing in Japan. That must be why reports are claiming that Amazon will price the Paperwhite less than its US counterpart. It will be sold for about $100. The Kindle Paperwhite in the US is going for $120 for the standard version, while the ad-free version is $140. Yeah, that stinks for us Americans. This price cut for the Japanese market is all about keeping the device in the same price range as its competitors.

We will see how it goes. Rivals like Rakuten and Sony have been in the e-reader market for awhile. For example, Rakuten promises 200,000 titles by the end of the year, while Amazon launched with only 50,000 for its Japanese e-book store. Only time will tell.